Society and the Individual

George Orwell wrote about how technology could be used to control us in his famous vision of totalitarian future, 1984, published in 1948.

"1984 is possibly the definitive dystopian novel, set in a world beyond our imagining. A world where totalitarianism really is total, all power split into three roughly equal groups--Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. 1984 is set in Oceania, which includes the United Kingdom, where the story is set, known as Airstrip One.
Winston Smith is a middle-aged, unhealthy character, based loosely on Orwell's own frail body, an underling of the ruling oligarchy, The Party. The Party has taken early 20th century totalitarianism to new depths, with each person subjected to 24 hour surveillance, where people's very thoughts are controlled to ensure purity of the oligarchical system in place. Figurehead of the system is the omnipresent and omnipotent Big Brother.
But Winston believes there is another way.
1984 joins Winston as he sets about another day, where his job is to change history by changing old newspaper records to match with the new truth as decided by the Party.
"He who controls the past, controls the future" is a Party slogan to live by and it gives Winston his job, but Winston cannot see it like that. Barely old enough to recall a time when things were different, he sets out to expose the Party for the cynically fraudulent organisation that it is. He is joined by Julia, a beautiful young woman much in contrast with Winston physically, but equally sickened by the excesses of her rulers.
You will meet many recognisable characters, themes, and words which have become part of our everyday life as you read 1984. Where did Big Brother first appear? Certainly not on Australian TV! Written in Orwell's inimitable journalistic style, 1984 is a tribute to a man who saw the true dangers of historian Lord Acton's (1834-1902) statement: "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/

The following is a review of some of the comments the US’s response to homeland security at the following websites:
☼ The Whitehouse
☼ Robert Gladd
☼ Human Rights First

To what extent should be allow society to ‘look after’ us and as a result, deprive us of individual freedom?

Monitoring Internet & Email Use

There are a number of advantages that the content monitoring system has for an organisation such as an estate agency because they are able to monitor what their staff are using the internet and email for. This is good for the organisation as they are able to keep an eye on their staff, and will be able to see when they are working and when they are not and using the system for their pleasure. This could make the workforce more productive because they will be less likely to not use the system for non-work related use.

However, there are a number of negative impacts it might have for the organisation including staff may feel have they have no privacy, as they will be being monitored, and they access can be viewed by somebody else. This may also be costly for the organisation, as they will have to purchase additional software to enable them to monitor their staff’s internet and email use.

There are a number of advantages for the employees of the state agency including the fact they may like the idea that they are being monitored because it will make them more productive, because they will know that if they use the system for non-work related or looking for other jobs, they are likely to be logged.

There are a number of problems this system might have for an employee who only uses the system for business purposes because if a word which they were using online, was a keyword which would log them on the system which could mean that they get into trouble, and they were using the system for its intended purpose.

The following are some of my own recommendations about the use of this system:
♣ They can only send email messages to customers who are registered and on the mailing list, this will mean that it will be harder for them to email friends, or send their CVs because they must firstly be registered.
♣ The organisation could set up a walled garden, where only verified sites can be viewed on the system, this would mean that staff could only view what the organisation feel is appropriate.

Teen Arrive Allive GPS Tracking System

“Teen Arrive Alive is a private company founded specifically to provide support to parents who are concerned about the driving safety of their teenagers. Our goal is to bring the teen problem to the forefront, assist in critical education, and recognise the positive driving behaviours of our nation’s teens.”

The company claims that nearly 78% of teenagers in the US are ticketed or crash by the time they are 18. Among other services, the Teen Arrive Alive organisation offers GPS tracking for teenagers to parents who may be worried that their child is late, missing, lost, abducted or not driving very well. Using a mobile phone and GPS technology, parents can track their teenager’s driving in real time. The route shows up on a digital map showing the speed travelled.

I have researched the website and discussed the benefits and drawbacks of the use of this technology to ‘protect’ teenagers. (IntelliOne Technologies Corporation aquired Teen Arrive Alive in 2007).

Benefits:
► Are that it is likely that the teenagers are going to dive more sensibly, this is because they are aware that their parents are able to watch them.
► Parameters are set and when these are exceeded an alarm sounds which alerts both the driver and the parents

Drawbacks:
► The teenager does not have any freedom, they are always being watched.
► This is the ‘big brother’ effect as they will always be under surveillance.

Discussion: US Passports and RFID

The US Department of Homeland Security has decided that 1 million US passports will contain radio frequency ID chips in 2005, moving to a universal system from 2006. these RFID tags will allow customs officials to scan passports using special radio receivers. They will not have to approach the travellers directly but can scan them from nearby. The passports will contain biometric and other information.

It will be faster and more convenient for customs but there are a number of dangers, including: the shielded cover are ineffective when a passport is open, and that a passport may have to be opened for inspection in a public place such as a hotel, a bank, or an Internet cafe. An open passport is subject to illicit reading of chip data, such as by a government agent who is tracking a passport holder's movements or by a criminal who is intending identity theft

Investigate The Pros & Cons of ID Cards

Using the internet I have researched exactly what is being proposed by the UK Government and what the objections are. T

he following is a list of all the ICT that is involved in the UK’s proposed card scheme: a large data database, biometric information, DNA testers, fingerprint readers etc.

The purpose of ID cars is meant to be that it will make surveillance and identification of people much easier and reduce crime as they can be tracked easily. It will meet this purpose because they will be issued to everybody within the UK and will hold a number of pieces of individual unique information including your personal information, identifying information, residential status, personal reference numbers, record history, registration, ID card history, validation information, security information and records of provision of information.

The advantages of such a system are:
· Identity verification in banks or at national borders
· Quick ownership or eligibility verification
· False identification may be reduced where identity cards are required to open a bank account.
· Identity cards can be a useful administrative tool that can increase efficiency in dealings with both the government and private companies.
· ID cards reduce crime.
· Cards may help reduce immigration service bureaucracy.
· All humans already carry personal identification, which cannot be discarded or falsified, DNA.

The drawbacks of such a system are:
· Identity cards impose a disproportionate burden upon both government and citizens
· Cards with centralised database could be used to track anyone's movements and private life, thus endangering privacy.
· A requirement to carry an identity card at all times can lead to the inconvenience of arbitrary requests from the police.
· Government claims that identity cards will prevent crimes; however, this is not be based on facts, only opinions.
· Historically, governments which issued identity cards to citizens used them forcefully, for example, Nazi Germany.
· In many cases, other forms of documentation such as a driver's license or passport, card serve a similar function on a more limited scale, and thus an ID card is not needed.
· The cost of introducing and administering an identity card system can be very high. Figures from £30 to £90 or even higher have been suggested for the proposed UK ID card.
· In some countries where ID cards are required to show religious affiliation or ethnic background, this can lead to cases of discrimination.
· Some schemes do not take into account whether people have legitimate reasons to conceal their identity.

My personal recommendation as to whether we should have ID cards is that they are not necessary, because the majority of people have a passport or other forms of identification which work as a form of ID, and as mentioned above, there will only be one document that needs to be produced fraudulently, whereas today you need a number of documents to prove your identity which can be harder to produce a number of convincing documents, and the overall cost of the system is huge, even tough the Government will be footing the bill.